The Fortress
by St.Alya
Summary: And the Archer atop its walls.
1. A battle to be fought

**So I was not really planning this, it sort of became planned as I went along the flux. Not sure if it's coherent right from the beginning, but here you go nonetheless ^^**

**I wrote this just because I wanted to use battle strategy metaphors, sort of, and it came out of my control. So here Fili is arrogant and capable of being cold blooded in tough situations, and Kili is the raging force that only his brother can tame. And for once, I wanted them to not be afraid of Thorin's disapproval – or at least, having dealt with that so long ago that it has no place in this story.**

**This is mostly about Thorin coming to understand that he cannot defeat his nephews in the matter of their love, I think.**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Chapter 1 – A battle to be fought

Fili, Thorin knows, fights with the mind. Either alone or teaming up with his brother, the blonde dwarf can form strategies in the split of a second, counting enemies, assessing their weakness and striking exactly at the right moment. There is mad precision about the way he moves through a battlefield, driven by cold blooded decisions that more often than not lead him victorious. Even during training against Dwalin and Thorin, when Fili's battle genius is still not enough to overpower decades of experience, it was possible to see him learning and adding to future tactics he might need. Thorin had left Fili on the ground many times during his training, but it was never with the same move, because his nephew would never commit the same mistake twice. Therefore, it is not surprising that when both brothers are acting together on the field, Fili easily gets into the role of bossing Kili around. When Gimli is with them he too falls quickly into the pace of the blonde's instructions. Thorin is usually slightly vexed that Kili, with all his defiance and stubbornness, never questions his brother for even a second while many times the brunette had argued with the king about what he should or should not do. But then again, he can understand to some point why this happens.

Kili, differently from his older brother, fights with the heart. He is body and soul when he is moving, completely focused at his surrounding, but attacking and dodging out of instinct instead of planning. That gave him many advantages; it made him unpredictable and fierce. Angry Kili was a force to be reckoned, all the more when someone he cared about was in danger - if Fili, in special, was in danger, there was nothing that could stop the younger. He seemed to glow so brightly with determination that it rubbed off on Fili when he was already exhausted from fighting. When Thorin was fighting against him in training, their battles were always longer, as if his nephew had an endless amount of energy, and soon after Fili would be on his feet again, fed by his sibling's enthusiasm. Nonetheless, a wild power can be as dangerous as the enemy, so Thorin had tried to give as much discipline as he could, only to fail almost every time - in battle, Kili listened to one person alone and that was Fili. He fitted perfectly under his brother's strategies, because there was no one who could harness Kili's full potential as Fili.

They - meaning Fili - would choose the spot that fitted the plans and then they - meaning Kili - would keep the fight going for as long as necessary. Thorin thought the best way to describe his nephews' battling style was that of a defending castle, which was probably no coincidence, given the blonde's genius to combine their different abilities.

Fili was the Fortress. The outer walls, high and mighty and impenetrable. His calculating mind added to the immense ability with double swords barely left any opening for foes to go through him in any circumstance, making sure the archer was safe to do his job.

Kili was the Archer, naturally. Standing atop the castle walls, with the advantage of high ground, shooting arrow after arrow both protecting and aiding his brother, who would be circling around him, maintaining the stronghold.

Sometimes, when either the battle was particularly bloody or when the boys were being particularly exuberant in their youth's arrogance, other fighting dwarves would be attracted to their island of controlled battle. They would help widen the circle Fili made around Kili, and soon enough the blonde would be ordering around dwarves much older than him, because his orders made sense, they worked, and because _Kili obeyed_. Although probably not consciously, the other dwarves knew that if even wild-Kili was following instructions with the discipline of a proper soldier, then the instructions must be worth following.

These are the times when Thorin can't help but feel proud of his nephews. These are the times when he sees the future king Fili will be and what an asset Kili will become to his brother's rule over others. It was a perfect combination, while one was calm and offered the security common men needed when following someone into battle, the other was furious and gave the inspiration to keep their spirits high and loyal to their leader. Obviously he doesn't wish wars during his nephew's time of ruling, but at least he knows that if they should come, Fili and Kili will fly past through it with ease - a little begrudging of his sister that they were not born earlier, he knows that if they had a few more like Fili and Kili back then, Erebor's fate might have been different.

And all of this was marvelous in terms of battle. Thorin could not have wished for better heirs when concerning this matter. Problem was that they were like this in every other aspect of their lives. Perhaps they were even worse, because when there was no risk of death, then they could be reckless and arrogant and thought they could get away with anything. Including an incestuous relationship that might be the doom of Thror's line if they didn't end that madness.

The first time Dis came to him to talk about how strange her sons' bond was, Thorin had thought nothing of it, dismissing it as the absurdity it was. Fili and Kili were close, yes. Closer than any pair of brothers he had ever seen, sure, but that hardly classified as strange. To some extent, it was to be expected. They had been born on the road, with no mountain above them and surrounded by adults that were too busy trying to make a living as they roamed through Middle-Earth, Fili and Kili had learned to turn to one another for family comfort, friendship, protection.

Mischief too, you can never forget that.

Fili had been in his own right, a little blonde devil. Always had a wicked grin on his face as he pulled his pranks and tricks on naive people that let themselves be fooled by his innocent-looking blue eyes. At the age of five, Fili had been close to a wild thing, running ahead through the road, falling in rabbit holes and playing with swords that were double his size. There were very few who could boss him around - Dis, Thorin and Dwalin, no one else - but not always one of them was available to discipline him, and Fili knew that, displaying an arrogant little smirk as he went about causing havoc. It was a general relief, then, when Kili was born. Because they expected that being a big brother would sober Fili up, he would have to be more responsible and take care of the new dwarfling in their family. Secretly, they had all been terribly afraid that the coming of a second child would make the older jealous, turning the situation even worse. Well, it did, just not quite the way they had feared.

Kili's presence did sober Fili up a bit. The blonde dwarf fitted the role of older brother at complete ease, taking immediately upon himself the task of watching over the younger without even being asked to. During two years, they had some peace, until Kili began to talk, and then walk. The day Kili took his first steps beneath the proud eyes of his older brother was the day that their family learned the true meaning of a nightmare - Thorin was sometimes melodramatic like this. Because it was not a month later that they had two, instead of one, chaos-bringing children, running around, causing all kinds of problems and laughing wholeheartedly at it. He was not sure whether Fili's nature had rubbed off on Kili or if they had both been born like that and this was something that had passed down to them from the line of Durin, fact was that his sister had given birth to two partners in crime who seemed to be attached at the hip despite the five years difference.

So, yes, being a big brother had sobered Fili some, but that just meant that the blonde had become more careful and more creative about his pranks, his calculating nature rapidly arising as the demand for different ways to have fun and escape lecturing appeared. According to Fili himself, who defiantly had explained this when he was twenty years old to Dwalin, it was just not him getting into trouble, it was his baby brother and he had to be careful to make Kili's escape easier. In fact, he became so good at hiding Kili's participation in a prank or at bailing him out when the younger got into trouble on his own, that with time people forgot that he could be even worse than his brother.

As they grew up, Fili and Kili achieved a perfect sync. They walked around side by side, communicating each other's movements through subtle elbows and looks, shifting their positions according to the other's moves. As Kili became more extroverted and outspoken, laughing at everyone's face, Fili settled for discrete mockery, always alert to get them out the trouble they were getting into. The one thing that remained from the wild five-year old was the arrogant grin whenever he succeeded in causing havoc and saving their asses. So, people who didn't know them thought erroneously that the responsible older brother just couldn't resist the younger's antics, accompanying him just to make sure he was safe. Fili really did spoil Kili to no end, that was true, but he was far from being the more innocent of the two. If anything, Thorin still thought he was the worst - who else had taught Kili all the proper ways to disarm the ponies' saddles? And who else would have the perfect plan to clean them from any obvious guilt?

Indeed, the brunette was the mad power that drove the brothers forward. He had energy enough for three dwarves, and was very creative. Whatever wrong things Fili had taught him, Kili had multiplied tenfold and always innovated. Improvisation was a natural talent to him, as well as the will to be different - it hadn't been really a surprise that he had chosen the bow. Fili, however, was the construction that kept them safe. He would raise walls and defenses, preferring to use more careful planning and strategy. Very rarely the blond left any of his flanks open for attack (or being caught in the middle of a prank, in this case). It was infuriating! Constantly Thorin and his sister would be left with knowing exactly who had been responsible for the occasional pranks but almost never could break their alibi. The good thing about being the adult, and the king for that matter, was that you could ignore reason and put them to punishment even without evidence.

So, the second time Dis came to him to discuss about her sons, she had tears on her eyes and pulled him through abandoned mines in the middle of the night until he could witness what she had seen. Two brothers doing obscenities with each other. By the time he had arrived, the act in itself was probably over, but Fili and Kili still laid naked, entwined around each other sharing a long, slow kiss.

"What... do you think... you ARE DOING?!" He yelled, unable to control himself "This is an ABOMINATION!"

The scream made them jump apart. Kili blushed entirely - and he had already been red faced - hurrying to put his clothes on in front of Thorin and Dis. Fili, cold blooded as he was, stared at them in shock for a moment, before taking a deep breath and calmly picking his clothes up to get dressed, as if not at all ashamed of his body or of what he had been doing. For a moment, Thorin deduces that this could only have been Fili's fault, since he had always been the one to give bad habits to his brother. However, the intense fear with which Kili was looking at the older, told him it was not a one-sided idea. Kili was not looking with fear because he was afraid _of_ Fili, he was afraid_ for_ Fili, of what Thorin would do to the blonde, clearly seeing what the king's conclusion had been.

"Fili, Kili. This isn't right." Dis said, her tears dry and a stern expression on her face. His sister had recovered from the shock, her strong will taking over again.

Kili winces, looks to the ground, fidgets with his clothes poorly dressed in the middle of his hurry. Fili, only now finishing his dressing, directed them an indifferent glance - he had the nerve to look indifferent! - before turning to Kili and proceeding to rearrange the wrinkled clothes, properly wrapping the tunic and lacing the pants. At first sight, it would seem that Kili would shy away from him and scowl, because he was not a child anymore that needed to be pampered. Nonetheless, Thorin was surprised with the fact that the younger brother clearly calmed down at the action, felt more secure, more confident, exhaling a deep breath and finally lifting his eyes from the ground. Only too late he and Dis realized what Fili had been doing - he had been communicating with Kili, probably using their coded language that no one would ever be able to make sense of. Then, in a matter of minutes, the two brothers faced them. The Fortress and the Archer, ready for confrontation.

"How... how long have you been... together?" Thorin forced the words out. He knew his nephews. He knew Fili had a plan and Kili was ready to never give up. The best course to take was that of reason, little else would work against them.

"We are brothers, uncle. We've been together ever since Kili was born." Non-surprisingly, it is Fili who speaks first. His are always the initial careful blows, testing the waters before Kili's precise aim could be applied.

"You are way too sure of yourself for someone who was just now committing a sin." Dis snapped, already too calloused by her sons' behavior to bother to use any strategy "It doesn't matter for how long. This has to stop!"

"Why?" Fili asks then, looking straight into her eyes, sounding infuriatingly _calm_ "We've done nothing wrong."

"Since when laying with your own brother is not _wrong_?!" Dis has her fists clenched, glaring back.

"Since it's done out of love!" Kili shot back, speaking for the first time "At least it was not like you and father!"

Tense, Thorin watches as his sister swiftly crosses the distance to her sons to slap Kili on the face. The matter of her marriage had always been a delicate one, and Dis rarely allowed her boys to even talk about it, which led them to believe she did not love their father. But as she raised her hand, Fili stepped in between them on the last minute, taking the slap in Kili's place. It was to be expected, Fili _never_ allowed anyone to touch his brother with the true intent of hurting him, he kept his Archer safe no matter what.

This is the moment when Thorin angrily understands that they have won this round. Because Fili is _still_ the only one of the four of them that has his temper under control and now Dis' action had only served to fuel Kili's fury. In general, it was the brothers' winning pattern, the more furious Kili got, the more under control Fili stayed - they had the perfect balance to get out of any situation.

"You are my Mother, and I love you." Fili says after a moment of silence, raising his face to look Dis in the eyes. His voice was cool and serene, but Thorin saw the cold rage in his eyes "But you will not attempt to hurt my brother ever again."

"You insolent child! Kili is my son before being your brother, and I will discipline you both until some sense has gotten into your heads!"

Dis is about to slap him again, but this time Kili is prepared and pulls his brother backwards, putting more distance between Fili and Dis. The Archer defends his walls. "I don't care for the hierarchy of the blood. Fili is _mine_ before anything else!"

This one bit of information amuses Thorin for a brief moment. Claiming someone as his usually meant who... well, who was the receiving end of the carnal relationship. That went to prove his earlier observation was right, their incest came from both instead of Fili alone. But still was surprising, that Fili with his dominating personality and arrogant manner would be the one to submit.

But that was none of business. Independent on who belonged to whom, that had to _stop_. Yet he knew they would achieve nothing today, with both Dis and Kili glaring at one another and Fili calmly staring at Thorin. Rage swirled inside of him to see his older nephew – his _heir_ – challenge him with such nonchalance. For all his brilliant tactics, Fili was still a green boy, and this was not a battle that should be fought between them. This was an order from the king that the brothers would have to accept one way or the other.

Blue eyes looked at him, analyzing and calculating. Fili knew Thorin couldn't have the luxury to separate them now, when Ered Luin was finally growing and more and more dwarves from the exile arrived each day. This was a time in which the Line of Durin had to stay together, if only for their people's sake, and as noted earlier, Fili and Kili working together had a very strong effect on morale. They were the princes, the hope of a struggling people.

At least, Fili did not smirk. He had the good sense of recognizing this as something serious. Thorin sighed, waving his head in exhaustion and wasn't the bloody dragon enough to ruin this House? That was a thought to be mulled over later, though, when he would have the good council of Dwalin and Balin and when his sister could think straight again.

"I hope you two understand this is not a game. I will not spend this night lecturing you over something you should already know." Thorin said, putting a hand on Dis' shoulder to pull her back "I will say this once. _Put an end to this obscenity_. Brothers are brothers. Brothers will remain brothers no matter what, there is no need for you to act like indecent animals. _Stop_ this, before I stop you myself. This is an order from your _king_."

Thorin is usually not keen on reminding his family members about his status, but it's necessary every once in a while. For a moment he hopes that power is something that could sway them a little. He disregards this possibility immediately as he looks at his nephews. Kili is standing tall and proud, bent on fighting until the end for the things he loves. Fili is simply standing, his features giving nothing away except for the eyes. Anger, protectiveness, _defiance_.

Defiance was very common in Kili, but the older prince could usually appreciate the benefits of following orders, even if not pleased by them.

Fili was next in line to be king, and although he had never shown greed for the title, he had always acted as a proper prince, trying to lead when Thorin was absent but following instructions whenever the king was around – pranks aside, of course. It was even relatively surprising that it had taken that long for the prince and him to have a big confrontation – Mahal only knows how many times Thorin had argued with Thrain and Thror. Today, however, his nephew stood against his decision. Today Fili's eyes let him know that king or not, Thorin would have no authority over their relationship.

Well, that remained to be seen.

It was about time he and Fili measured their strength against one another. His nephew was not the only one who could use strategy, he had yet to survive a dragon before he was a match for Thorin and Dis.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Again, I had no idea this was going to be like this. I was just writing things from Thorin's pov and then the king started talking on his own in the paper… go figure!**

**So, I don't know how long this will be, but I don't think it should be more than three chapters. I'll post the second chapter by Saturday. Until then, let me know if they are too much out of character, so I can try and correct it without deviating too much out of my plot :)**

**In this chapter I may have made Fili too… big, too grand and in control (maybe he is my favorite…), but Kili will not be forgotten, I promise!**


	2. A place to defend

**First of all, I must say I took some liberties with the year and the manner of Frerin's death. I don't like that I did this, but it served the story, so… forgive me for this.**

**And like I said before, I don't know if it's coherent with the first chapter. Especially because here there is more dialogue and not so much analysis. So I hope I got it right.**

**Thank you for all the great reviews! Special thanks to Ferowyn, Gamer-Alexis and caramelcandylover, because each of you guys have most likely reviewed all of my fics! I wish I could write something specially for each of you :D (Ferowyn's will be coming in November ;p)**

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

Chapter 2 – A place to defend

For the next following weeks Thorin watched his nephews take the concept of 'inseparable' to a whole new level.

If before they did a few things alone, now one was literally not seen without the other during the day. The forges, the mines, the training grounds – they were together in all public places, never more than an arm's length apart. During the night he could only guess the same thing happened. Fili and Kili no longer slept on their family's quarters. Dis said they sometimes stopped by late in the night, rummaged through their room but were gone before the night was over.

This, Thorin recognized, was Fili's defensive strategy. They were stronger together, and they wanted to avoid at all costs to be caught alone. So that was the tactic he would have to take to attack. Fili was Kili's best defense, and Thorin guessed the brunette had probably grown weak being too safe inside his castle's walls.

He had to find the Archer alone. Out of the Fortress.

Had not Thorin been so anxious to get it over with, he might have suspected that something was off. That Fili would never let Kili go out hunting alone. But every good strategist was bound to make mistakes sometimes, so when he saw his younger nephew bringing a deer carcass up the mountain path with no company, he took his chance.

A bow was a long range weapon; therefore an archer could be very vulnerable with no line of defense in front of him. Thorin had not expected then for Kili to be so good with a sword.

"I'll help you with that." He said, lifting part of the carcass on his shoulders, so he was walking side by side with Kili.

"There is no need for that." His nephew said stiffly, but not recoiling either.

"There have been many needless acts these last few days." Thorin retorted "Where is your brother? You two made sure to walk side by side all the time lately."

Kili grimaced at that, seeming to frown at the idea. Could it be that he and Fili had had an argument? This would be the weak spot to attack, then. If he could break Kili free out of his brother's hold…

"Fili had… things... to attend to." Kili finally answered, a quick bitterness crossing his guarded eyes before he looked at Thorin with a small smirk "We were supposed to meet at the mountain gate, so you can go ahead and say whatever you think you can say that will convince me that we are wrong before we get there."

The nonchalant tone in his voice caught Thorin unprepared. Perhaps it was obvious that he was going to approach the subject, he had just thought that Kili would be less calm about it. Fili must have readied him for this.

"Fili said you might send Dwalin, because I have always trusted him to ask for advice. But we knew that you could take a chance on your own if you saw me alone." Kili rolled his eyes "You all seem to think that I am the weak link. Even more, you all seem to think that Fili is always in charge, dominating my life."

This was the first sword blow from Kili, but Thorin does not let himself be surprised by it. That was indeed what they thought, mostly, so he used that topic to go on.

"Well, does he ever let you be by yourself?" he raised an eyebrow at his sister-son. Planting doubt between them seemed like a good way to start, if he hoped to reach Kili's good sense.

"We are here having this conversation now, aren't we?" Kili shook his head, sighing "You think Fili underestimates my capacity to fend for myself, but in truth it is you who underestimates me. No, uncle, Fili counts on me as much as I count on him. Do you think it would work if things were any different? Do you think he would be mine if I was weak? Fili is not the most humble of dwarves, you know. It took some fighting from my part, believe it or not."

This second blow was more difficult to dodge. The mention of Kili's claim over his brother disconcerted Thorin. He was still not over the fact that his sister-sons shared that kind of intimacy, and to hear the younger speak so naturally of it as if there was nothing of shameful in it was so absurd that left him speechless for a moment.

Of course that Kili would find nothing wrong with it. He should have seen it years ago – as Dwalin had grumbling commented a few nights back – that Kili sometimes acted like a love-drunk fool when around Fili. He had this glow in his eyes when he talked about the blonde, and he never allowed any girl to stand really close to him.

As he remained in silence, musing over this, Kili spoke again with the most arrogant grin on his face.

"Give up already, uncle? Is it possible that Fili was wrong when he said that you would have at least ten reasons for us to end it, appealing to our wisdom before you took harsh measures?" Kili smirked "Please tell me this is the case, I love to rub it on his face when he is mistaken."

Kili's sarcasm brought him out of his musings. This was not a matter to be snickered on. They were close to see the mountain gate on the path and he still had not said the things he wanted.

"Do you think this is a joke? Do you think that sinning and interrupting our family line is a joke?" Thorin glared fully at him, putting the carcass down on the ground and forcing them to stop "I worry about you, Kili. You are too young to make such a grave mistake. One day Fili will have to-"

"Don't you _dare_ say it!" Kili snapped, quickly getting angry "Fili is _mine_. I will NEVER allow for someone else to propose marriage to him."

The raw possessiveness in his voice made Thorin freeze for a moment, Kili looked almost feral, defending his territory like his life depended on it. Thorin doesn't know when his sister-sons became so codependent on one another, which is something he regrets. The bond between them had always been strong, and this wrong love only made it thicker. He was not sure if there was any hope of severing it, but Thorin lifted his metaphorical sword again.

"How can you speak like this without guilt?" he forces his voice to stay calm. If calmness worked for Fili, it might work for him as well when trying to reach Kili's good sense.

"Guilt is a heavy thing, uncle. Sooner or later one has to get rid of it if he expects to keep on walking, even if the burden is shared." The dark look and the somber tone in Kili's eyes were something he had not been expecting to see. Did that mean the two had felt guilty about it at some point then? How long ago that relationship had began?!

"Perhaps you should have held onto that guilt. It would have kept you saner than you are now."

To this, Kili laughs openly. Thorin was not sure whether it was true or fake, but this was his nephew's improvisation taking him unprepared _again_.

"Somehow, I doubt that's possible." Kili grinned – _grinned_ – at him, as if he was talking about ale and food or whatever good thing there was in his life "You see, we had two choices. Either be sad and brooding or be happy and laughing. The love would have been the same, and the guilt would be there anyway, so we chose being happy. With time the guilt faded away… It had no room in our hearts after we understood that being bonded was not a choice."

"Again, Kili, you are too young to know about this. How can you know what being bonded is like?!" Thorin was losing his patience, because this whole thing was too absurd to be completely rational about it "How do you even know that what you feel for your brother is carnal love and not a misunderstanding of brotherly bond?"

"Did you ever want to join my mother in bed? Did you ever desire her?" Kili asks, with something dark in his eyes. It was different dark than before, it was something that hinted too much of the things he and Fili were not guilty of. It was nearly terrifying seeing it in Kili, who had no control of his emotions and looked like he would have his brother then and there just to prove his point.

Thorin punched him in the stomach because, again, this conversation was absurd and Kili had to learn how to speak to him properly. How could he even dare suggest such a thing between him and Dis?! In any other day he could have admired the brunette's guts to say that aloud, but this crossed the line of disrespect.

"Of course not! _Never_! We are not perverted and twisted like you and your brother." He growled, too stunned in his anger to care that he might have actually hurt his sister-son. Not that Thorin would ever let Kili know, but the question had hit a little too close to home. If only they knew...

"Well… there is your answer… then. This… is how I first came to know for sure." Kili said, breathless on the ground, but facing him in challenge nonetheless "I could have spent all my life thinking that Fili and I were just closer than others pairs of brothers, thinking that we were brothers and best friends, nothing more. I could have gone like that, if Fili was not the only dwarf that made my body shiver with desire. And believe me, we have both tried to have pleasure from others."

"This is _sick_." Thorin mutters, terrified of the bluntness with which those words were spoken "This is wrong! How could your brother let you become like this? What did he do to you?!"

"This is the truth that you all have chosen to ignore until it hit you on the face!" Kili shouted, standing up and looking right into his eyes, fearless "And STOP blaming it all on Fili! His whole life he has protected me, and he _never_ did anything I didn't ask him to. Just so you know, I was the one who started it, I was the one who pressed him against the bed one night and told him of my lust-filled dreams about him."

Those words brought far too many disconcerting images to his mind. Kili had crossed the border of _indecent_ with that. It's like he knows how this affects him – and he should know, of course, because he never missed a shot. Thorin moved to punch him again, but Kili was prepared this time and dodged this real blow as easily as he had been dealing with that conversation. They looked at each other for a few moments.

He could see in his nephew the usual fire that drove him through battle. He was not sure whether Kili was completely lost in his incestuous madness or the love they said they shared really ran that deep – either way, the brunette was ready to _bleed_ for it. Thorin didn't think he would find in himself to wound him gravely, but some part of him craved to see just how far the boys were willing to go for that relationship.

"I should disown you. You and your brother." He growled.

"Yes, you should. It would spare us future problems." Kili growled back, unfazed.

"Oh, so you do acknowledge there will be problems in the future? Then, pray tell, how do you think you can solve them?" Thorin snorted in the middle of his glare.

Kili shrugged. "I leave the boring planning to Fili. I just make sure to keep him safe and make sure that things will work out."

"And they will."

When Fili's voice reaches them, Thorin once more angrily acknowledged his defeat. If it had been difficult before with Kili alone, now that the two brothers were together it would be nearly impossible to break them.

The effect of those mere three words was instantaneous. Kili stood straighter and his eyes blazed with renewed flame. He smirked victoriously to his older sibling, seeming to be proud to show that he had been having the upper hand in the discussion. Emboldened by the fact they had nothing to hide anymore, both brothers bumped their heads quickly, sharing a look that ran too deep and spoke of things that they would do later that Thorin really didn't want to know about. The intensity of the exchange was so strong it stole his breath away for a moment, like that moment in battle when you think there is no more hope.

Nonetheless, as he watched them, a new strategy formed in his mind.

Thorin observed closely the way Fili circled him and went to stand by Kili's side, briefly holding his wrist in support. He saw the way with which the blonde noticed how his brother had a hand over his stomach and he saw the fury rising in blue eyes.

Fili subtly moved so he was standing between Kili and Thorin, glaring at him.

"Attempting brute force now, uncle?"

Thorin did not answer, he focused on how Kili placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He could not understand the words, but they managed to calm Fili considerably. For a moment, it was as if they were not part of that world, they looked into each other's eyes again, silently telling of their feelings towards each other in a more subtle manner. Thorin doesn't know how he had never seen this before. Because, yes, he had seen their codependency before and this love had indeed always been there like Dwalin had said.

There is complete devotion in Fili's eyes and it's obvious how far he is willing to go to keep Kili safe. And this is the moment when Thorin knows he was using the wrong strategy.

Kili was not weak when he was alone, he was just better when he was with his brother. Archers were archers anywhere they stood. Fortresses, however, had to be manned, had to be _kept_. Fortresses, his grandfather had told him once, were only as strong as the men standing behind them. Thorin had always tried to ignore what that said about their family loosing Erebor, but it was a good concept to apply in that situation.

Fili, with all his logic and intelligence, lasted only as long as his brother. If there was no one to fuel him, Thorin might have a chance to win if he gets a moment when the blonde is away from Kili. Then it would be just mind on mind, and he would have a chance.

Xx

It's easier said than done, of course, to get Fili alone. Even a month later the brothers are still keeping up their always-together tactic, but Thorin does not despair. If he gave in to his rage, he would not be able to defeat Fili.

In a way, he was relieved that in the end the confrontation that would settle that matter had to be with Fili and not Kili. As their previous encountered had proved, their arguments were more growls than anything else. Kili was too much of a wild fire, someone to be_ afraid_ of - Thorin was not ready to accept the fact that his younger sister-son had strucked any kind of fear in him, but it was there, clear enough that he was conscious of it. Besides, Fili was the heir. Fili was the one who had to be shaped into a good king for his people.

Thorin had been tempted to simply send Kili away with Dwalin to a month long mission, but he knew that would not work. In the past, his younger nephew would jump at the opportunity, but now Kili knew of his reasons and he and Fili would find a way of staying together. No, it could not be something too big to create Thorin's opportunities.

The thing with fortresses was that their weak spots were so obvious that they were heavily guarded. Therefore, it was useless to attack there. What brought fortresses down, was finding the places where there were tiny fractures that no one remembered to defend. Kili had said it himself: he left the planning for Fili, sure that there was a way out of everything. These were the small fractures that were left unguarded and that Thorin had to explore. He would calmly talk to Fili about his plans for the future and exploit the parts that are difficult, make him see how hopeless that wrong love was.

It was difficult to bring them apart for a few moments, and Thorin guessed that if young Gimli – who nearly worshiped his older cousins – ever came to know he had been used in the scheme, he would have a small rebellion in his hands. Yet, everything went out as planned, and when Fili came into the room to find Thorin, Dis, Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin seated at the table, it was possible to see in his eyes as he deduced what was happening.

There was a quick flash of anger in the blue eyes, but was gone literally with the blink of an eye, and suddenly they had the Fortress standing in front of them. There was only fast calculation in Fili's countenance. Thorin braced himself for what was about to come. He had the offensive move here, but he suspected that the recoil would feel just as hard as if they were receiving the attack.

"Come in." he ordered.

The prince closed the door behind him and assessed the situation. Thorin could almost see his mind working, devising plans to get through it. There was still the option of just leaving, of course, but it would take at least a day for Kili to return with Gimli, so… Thorin guessed Fili would rather be just over with it. His nephew was a practical dwarf – not to mention confident, if he thought the situation could be resolved even without his brother near.

"That was clever. Although I wager Gimli will be not happy to know that you've used him against us." Fili said, looking pointedly at Gloin, who coughed, clearly uncomfortable.

It caught Thorin somewhat by surprise that Fili would attack first, so to speak. Caution was a proved ally of his nephew. Nonetheless, this was a blow he had already been expecting and had his family prepared for, so he didn't think there would be much damage.

Thorin had not wanted to involve Oin and Gloin, but Dis had advised him to, arguing that Fili was closer to them than to Balin and Dwalin as was Kili's case. He was not sure if that had been the right decision, because Oin and Gloin_ liked_ Fili. They really cherished the blond dwarf and were not happy to be part of this task force to separate the couple. Thorin knew they were there with him out of duty, not of opinion. Most likely they already knew about the relationship before, if Fili's somewhat hurt look to Oin was any indication.

"Sit down, lad. Let's get this done." Gloin said in a gruff voice, looking away in irritation, clearly not happy to be there. Thorin worried for a moment that bringing his younger cousin in was a bad decision. Fili could end up swaying him in the end – authority challenging and ever the romantic, Gloin was a wild card on the table.

"Let's." Fili answered calmly, taking the sit that had been left for him "It would be a waste to throw your efforts away, after succeeding in bringing Kili and me apart for a day. Especially after trying for so long."

The sarcasm in his voice was irritating, as he mocked their family as if this was a prank from when he and Kili were children.

"Quit the attitude, laddie. We are here just to talk." Balin said and offered his usual inviting smile. That meant that Dis's strategy was currently in action.

First Balin would trick him into saying everything, with Oin and Gloin helping when needed. Then Dwalin would mock and tease and provoke until Fili was distressed enough that Thorin could speak.

They had all been fairly surprised that the plan had been Dis' idea, but then again, Fili had to have gotten his strategic mind from somewhere. And Thorin knew that none of them wanted that relationship over more than his sister.

"Talk, then." Fili said, motioning the older dwarf to continue. His face the perfect mask of tranquility and curiosity. He might have been the king himself, waiting for the words of his council. Thorin held back a frown at this display – this was Fili trying to affect him even without speaking directly to him, but dominance displays would have no place there today.

"Oh, no. You didn't understand. We are here so _you_ can talk. Properly talk to us, explain everything to your family without Kili losing his temper and getting in your way." Balin said, still smiling.

"Kili is never in my way. Putting doubt between us won't work, you know." Fili raised an eyebrow at him. Well, Thorin had thought it was worth a try.

"Tell us about it, either way. We need to understand, laddie, if we are to accept you."

Those were the golden words. Thorin fought back a victorious smile when he saw the quick flash of hope that crossed blue eyes. They were on the right track. Understanding and accepting were not something Fili had been expecting at all. It was almost endearing to see his nephew softening for the briefest of seconds, as if a dream was coming true.

Years later, when he pondered over everything, Thorin would understand it was in that moment that he had lost the battle – the moment when he felt bad about bringing them apart. One must never feel sorry for the opponent, but Thorin could not find in his heart to really consider his nephew an opponent. Either way, in that instant, he was focused on the way the Fortress closed again, so he noticed nothing, believing that this was the first weakness in the barrier he had seen so forth.

"What is it that you need to understand? Kili and I love each other, more than anything in the world." And for once, despite all his calmness and clod blood, there is true feeling in Fili's voice "You all know that dwarves give their hearts only once in their lives… Kili has mine and I have his. That's all that there is to it."

"But how can you be so sure? You are both young, you have much to live… How do you know that you love in such manner, and not in a deep brotherly way?" Balin inquired further with his gentle voice.

This time Fili smirked. "Kili has been asked that, and I believe his answer is sufficient." But then his smirk became a small, genuine smile as he looked at the table, as if he was remembering something "I don't have pretensions to teach any of you about love. Although I do believe you should give us more credit in this matter. Gloin apart, none of you are married. You might have loved before, but I don't think this is the case."

Thorin did not like the way with Balin opened and closed his mouth twice, pondering over what he should say next. Fili was good with his words – his speech had lifted spirits many times in difficult situations. The lad might not be so good as to outsmart Balin in conversation, but the pause he caused was a dangerous breach to make them question what they were all doing.

"And why is that? Yer mother was married once." Dwalin asked, coming to the rescue. It was a bit early for him to participate, Thorin believed, but it might be a good chance to start mining Fili's confidence.

"Because you underestimate us." Fili answered, his smile increasing just a bit, but there was no mock there, just confidence "If you knew what is like, if you knew how difficult it is to resist… You look at me and my brother and judge for what you see today. You have not seen our struggle, our pain, our difficult path until we came to accept our feelings as they were. And after all that Kili and I have been through, our bond will not be so easily broken, no matter how hard you try."

"But ye have a duty. Ye both have." Dwalin insisted "Would ye turn yer back on our king and kin?"

"We know and we will fulfill this duty. We _want_ to fulfill it. It's our blood right, it's an honor. But we don't see how being in love would stop us from doing so."

"Ye cannot expect to be king and not get married. Ye gonna need heirs, lad. If not from yer groin then from yer brother's."

Fili grimaced at that, but nodded. "We are aware of that. And we will find a surrogate mother when the time comes."

"What? Do ye think our people—"

"Our people don't have to know!" Fili snapped all of a sudden but kept his voice at the same volume, then he turned to Dis "Just like they don't know about my father. If they don't know who is he, then they don't need to know about who will be my son's mother. Or Kili's. Besides… uncle still has time to find himself a wife. He is hardly at the end of his life, and it might be that I will not be king in the end."

No one had response to that. Thorin felt the weight of those two truths upon his shoulders. Dis' beloved… well, that was a sad story that had been buried deep for multiple reasons, and he would not hurt his sister by bringing it up. His own lack of marriage… he had no justification for that. He could say he was busy in his duties. But wasn't giving their people an heir his duty?

Truth was that his heart had been consumed by grief and bitterness at the things he had seen. Smaug, Moria… It had robbed him of the warmth that love required. No one in their family had ever demanded that from him because they knew, they understood. Dwalin, Balin and Oin, who were older and had lived through it in the same way he had were not married either. Gloin and Dis were younger, their experiences had been different.

Looking into Fili's eyes filled with surety, he saw the accusation there. Just because his heart had lost the will to love, what right Thorin had to stop his nephews? This was a privilege that so few were blessed with, who was he to deny them of this blessing?

Slowly, very slowly, Thorin saw his council members looking down to the table, pondering over the things that were said and the things that were left unsaid by all of them. Glancing around, he counted his remaining allies.

Balin, in his age and wisdom, was clearly against it. But he was also a very moderated person, and Thorin knew Fili had made a good point, putting the old dwarf in a difficult position. It was hard to find arguments that did not work against Thorin as well.

Dwalin had never been really against it, Thorin knew. If he was, he would have brought to his attention long ago. The old warrior had a very simple way of seeing things, and as long as it did not harmed the two boys, most likely he would be neutral about it. Dwalin was there because, being the good soldier, he would obey his king.

Oin and Gloin were a different matter altogether. They had always been Fili's favorites, to begin with, as Fili had been theirs. Sure, Balin and Dwalin were important figures to his nephew, but when it came to trusting and asking for advice, it was to the sons of Groin that the blonde turned to.

Thorin had always made a point of treating both his nephews the same way, never favoring one in place of the other. The same did not happen with everyone else, though, as it happens naturally in every family. Some people were more attuned than others. So, Balin and Dwalin dealt easily with Kili's open mood, naturally filling the brunette's desire for grand tales and important adventures. Oin and Gloin, though, had this _home_ feeling about them, and were always teaching the blonde forging and healing techniques.

The sons of Groin were definitely closer to helping Fili than helping him. The older and calmer of the two was looking very uncomfortable, casting apologetic looks at the prince. The younger was glaring at the table, angry to have to do that. Thorin did not think he would be challenged over that matter, but it was somewhat amusing that already Fili had allies in the council table – had they been discussing trading contracts Thorin might have been proud of his sister-son.

"Fili, stop." Dis' crystal clear voice brought everyone's eyes up again.

Of course, Thorin could not forget about his sister, who had had been through so much pain in her life and would hardly be fazed by the two children she had given birth to. Furthermore, Dis knows the kind of fear only a woman could know, and he was sure that all five of them would back up her decision no matter how convincing her elder son could be, even Oin and Gloin, who had been close when everything happened.

Thorin wondered if Fili and Kili knew the truth they would be so quick to yell loudly about love and bonding as if it was that simple. Perhaps indeed their souls had been forged together and, even though they were brothers, in a sense they were lucky that it was mutual. His sister-sons would never know what it was like to love one who loved another, like Dis knew. But more than that, if they were trusted with the one of the darkest secrets of the Durin line, Thorin wondered if the boys would be so confident about their relationship not being wrong.

"Quit using all your games and strategies, boy. Nothing changes the fact that it's wrong. Brothers _don't_ lie with brothers." Dis spoke again, her voice as cold and sharp as a trusted sword. Her face was a mask of tranquility, although Thorin could see the dark emotions rolling behind his sister's eyes and could not even imagine how painful it must be for her that this is happening to her own sons.

"Not that most people know of." Fili scoffed and Dis' glare became much colder "What I do know, since there are _many_ things that are left unsaid in this family, is that my brother and I look awfully different from one another."

And that was the final move of that round. They could still argue about the impracticalities of them being together, but it would be all just useless struggle. The matter of their appearances had been raised many times before by some of their people. Thorin knew that if Fili and Kili had not been so likable and so bright, many would have questioned his nephew's right to be his heir. Blond hair was _rare_ in the descendents of Durin, coming down from the wife of Durin IV, according to history – and Fili currently being the only one alive, there were only four dwarves to have golden hair in the royal house…

All eyes were turned to Dis, whose face was a mixture of dread and fury. Thorin saw his sister closing off to the world, pale and angry. Did Fili know what he was doing? His mother was as dangerous as any of them.

"There two other things that I do know," Fili began, bringing all attention back to him although his eyes were fixed on Dis "One is that there is no real record of Frerin's death in the Azanulbizar, and that he appeared in some historical documents and family portraits until the year I was born. Interestingly enough, after the year of 2859, my… _blonde uncle_, was considered dead at the year of 2799."

So he knew.

Of course he would know. This was Fili, who had dutifully studied everything about the royal line as it was required of the crown prince. This was Fili, who could figure out strategies as if it was child's play.

Thorin was _petrified_ at his nephew's boldness and nerves of steel. Most likely, they should have known better than to hide the identity of Fili's father from him, he would find out sooner or later. Perhaps – _perhaps_ – things would have been different if the boys knew. It was useless to muse about that now, though. It would not change the fact that the blonde had so calmly thrown on their faces something that had been buried for decades.

Indeed, Fili must love his brother to great lengths if he was ready to use that painful fact to his advantage without even flinching. Whatever it was that place inside The Fortress where their love was _right_, it must be worth defending.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Dis said, her voiced reduced to a low menacing tone.

"Maybe I don't. And honestly, _I don't care_." Fili said, rising from his seat and looking down on every one of them until his eyes rested on Dis "I don't care if you loved your brother in the way you keep saying is so despising or if it was him who loved you so much that he could not contain himself. I don't care about who my father was and if he was the same as Kili's, because here is the other thing that I know. I _love_ Kili and there is nothing you can do to stop us. Disown us or kill us or accept us they way we are, it won't change the way we feel."

That was when Thorin recognized another mistake in his plan, because a bow _was_ a long ranged weapon.

Beneath the coolness of Fili's voice, Thorin heard the passionate fury that was always so obvious in Kili's. He could try to get to the blond alone, but the younger would always be there, making himself present even if they were not in the same room. Just like Fili's controlled personality had helped Kili hold his ground during their confrontation. This was what being bonded meant, was it not? One was always within the other.

The Archer would always be inside the Fortress, this was how they fought and this was how they lived. They would always be defending each other.

There is a sudden crack of wood, and Thorin sees his sister rising to her feet. Dis is panting in fury and there is a piece missing from the table in front of her.

"This is not over." She growled, before leaving without any more words or looks to anyone in the room.

Fili sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as if he was tired, but was soon recovered. He looked into the eyes of everyone, and held Thorin's.

Thorin simply looked back, because he truly was tired even though he had said nothing in that meeting and because he wanted to go after his own sister to make sure she would not do something she would regret later.

"Then it isn't over." Fili said at last, speaking with utter surety "You can keep coming at us. It won't work."

Thorin almost believed it.

**Xxxxxxxxxx**

**Well, that came out much longer than I intended, but there was no way I could break this into two even chapters. Kili and Thorin confrontation was too small and gave the opening for the meeting, so I thought it was better to keep it all together. I hope you don't mind :)**

**I am not completely happy with Dis' sad story, but… the plot needed strong motivations from both sides, so this is what my fingers came up with. Really, this chapter became a wild thing after the fifth paragraph o0 Her story will be explained in the following chapter.**

**I hope next chapter shall be the last, but I have to be honest with you. I have **_**no control**_** over this. Which is why I try not to write multichapter stuff, but it's too late now and you will have to bear with me for this story :)**


	3. A defeat to acknowledge

**Okay, this chapter got out of hand. It is mainly about Dis, but I had to tell her story, so…**

**Once again, thank you for all the reviews!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Chapter 3 – A defeat to acknowledge

"He is just like his father."

The bitterness in his sister's voice made Thorin stop at the doorway. He sighed, closing the door behind him. This was a difficult path to take, Dis was very close to losing control.

"No, he is not. All things considered, Fili has his heart in the right place." Thorin said slowly, worriedly watching Dis sitting tense on her bed. She immediately stood and turned to him, looking enraged.

"He is obsessed with his own _brother_!"

"Who is just as obsessed with him!" Thorin looked into her furious eyes for a moment and sighed "I've talked to Kili, remember? He is not being manipulated. They are equal in their madness."

"Oh, perfect. This means that this sickness comes from my blood, then." She turned her back on him again "Darin would be so proud of me."

"Sarcasm does not become you, sister. Your blood is my blood, and our cousins'."

"The whole line of Durin is cursed then! Oin and Gloin protected him, did they not? And Dwalin doesn't even care if it's wrong or not! Perhaps we ought to just leave our people and spare them from being ruled by a bunch of twisted dwarves."

"_Stop_ with those mad ravings, sister. You are not like this." Thorin said as calm as he could muster, treading carefully. Dis could not be blamed by her words, but he would not let her go on offending all of them because of that situation. It was no one's fault. Fate's perhaps, which only meant that it was far above their place to take blame.

They spent a silent moment, until she quietly spoke again, her hand shaking.

"Have you ever noticed? He speaks just like… just like…"

"Like Frerin? No, he doesn't. Our brother was a brooding dwarf who never learned how to deal with his own problems. Fili is a strong dwarf, so effective in his solutions that he borders on arrogance. For Mahal, He is more similar to _Grandfather_ than to Frerin." It was true, except that his sister-son had been touched by greed towards his own brother instead of a precious jewel. Thorin himself had never known that kind of greed – which was something he feared, if he was honest with himself – but he supposed it was better to lust after someone instead of something. Not that he would ever admit this to his sister, of course, who seemed to not have the disposition to even consider the boys' point of view.

Thorin cursed inwardly, silently asking himself when he had taken his nephews' side on that battle.

"Sometimes I swear that boy has ice in his veins."

"Fili is cold blooded yes, but he is not a cold person. You know your sons, Dis. Don't let your pain cloud your judgment about them."

"Cloud my judgment?! Are you defending them, Thorin Oakenshield?!"

"No! Yes." Thorin sighed in frustration, this was worse than arguing with Kili. He didn't have to fear hurting Kili, he could stand anything. "Their relationship, no. Them, yes. They are not monsters."

"Kili, at least, should not be." She muttered bitterly.

"Dis, don't—"

"_Where were you_ when Fili spoke to me? Did you not see how he sounded?!"

"I was there and I heard how he sounded like a proper king defending his territory. He sounded like Grandfather did when he decided to take Moria back. And I assure you, Kili can be a lot worse. If this bloody meeting taught me one thing, sister, is that what Kili told me a month ago is true. Fili counts on him just as much as he counts on Fili. Even if we have them far from each other, they are never alone." Thorin said, praying that he would not regret his next words "I… I have no means of knowing what this feels like but… but it seems to me they really are bonded. The way they talk, the way they act… I am not sure that we can end this."

Dis looked at him with big frightened eyes, and Thorin was reminded of a scary night, decades ago, when she had been so afraid of everyone that he had to hold his sister until dawn and Oin came with a concoction that put her to sleep.

"Bring them apart! Send Kili to the Iron Hills and Fili somewhere far away to the north, send him to the Firebeards."

"What good would this do? It's not like they could be kept in chains forever, they would find a way to be reunited again… It's like Fili said, we don't have much choice. Disown, kill or accept."

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, until Dis asked slowly.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because…" Thorin took a big breath, hoping this was the right choice "Because, I feel that this decision must be yours. Me and the others… Dwalin doesn't care, Balin doesn't like but he knows options that can make it… acceptable. Oin and Gloin have been covering for them, no doubt."

"What about you, brother?" she asked with searching in her eyes. It saddened him to see his sister like this, a proud dwarf woman who once brandished axes as expertly as dwarves reduced to a terrified being. Thorin felt like his sister was so small, lost in her bad memories, that she could fit in his pocket.

"I… I cannot kill them. I will not spill my kin's blood. The other two options I can deal with… but I don't want to hurt you. You've suffered too much already, and I want to be able to protect you from the pain now like I couldn't before. The decision is yours, Dis."

"What Frerin did to me…"

"Neither of them are Frerin, not even Fili. Actually, especially not Fili, if I've observed them correctly. No son is bound to become the father. And I know their love offends you, but I'm starting to think that this is all that there is to it. They are mates for life, and there is nothing you or I can do about it."

xx

It was very hard to leave his sister alone, yet Thorin knew that it wouldn't make a difference. He would carry Dis' pain if he could, but alas this was a trauma she would have to overcome on her own.

What he could do, was to find Fili to talk to him, to have a proper conversation, without schemes and strategies. No more battles and confrontations. He ought to be an uncle to his nephew.

Thorin was not sure what his sister would decide, so he would like to at least prepare his sister-son for it. Between watching them look at each other and seeing how ready they were to fight so they could be together, he was more and more convinced that he had lost that battle. He could take whatever measure he thought effective, but in the end it would only hurt the boys and their whole family, as if the line of Durin was not already damaged enough.

Finding his heir, however, proved to be rather difficult. In those months in which his sister-sons had disappeared from home to avoid being separated, they had managed to hide themselves very well in Ered Luin. After all was over, Thorin might as well require they draw a map of the hidden passages they must have discovered.

Maybe it was fate that made him pay attention to Gloin's fiery hair moving through the crowded halls that led to the mining neighborhood. Or maybe it was just another sordid strategy Fili had designed, like the ones Thorin would discover years later. Fact was that he discretely followed his younger cousin. Fact was that he saw him knock in some sort of code at an old wooden door that nobody would look twice at, and when Gimli came out of it, his head began to spin.

What was Gimli doing there?! Gimli was supposed to be at the foot of the mountain, already, innocently believing he was taking Kili to rescue some dwarf merchants from some thieves that sometimes roamed the edge of the Blue Mountains.

As he watched the red haired father and son walking away towards their own house, it dawned on Thorin what had happened.

Fili and his bloody genius had fooled them all.

He barged into the wooden door, mildly surprised that it did not break under his forced entrance, and there he saw them. The place was a small room that had been clearly used like a provisory house for them. There was one large bed, a table with two chairs, a hearth with dying embers and a pot with something cooking in it, and some packs left in the corner.

The moment he came in he saw Fili and Kili jumping apart, looking rather breathless. Kili's tunic was forgotten on the floor and had not Thorin been so stunned with the realization that they had all been tricked into believing they had successfully separated them for a day, he would have felt slightly awkward for almost catching them in a private moment.

During some minutes, they stared at him. Kili seemed very surprised at the interruption, looking like a kid who had been caught with his hand on the cookie jar. Fili, as usual, was shocked for an instant before he went into analyzing mode.

Thorin finally spoke, the words sounding somewhat distant in his ears.

"You planned this. You planned everything. From me finding Kili alone coming up the mountain path a month ago to me making believe Gimli had fallen in our trap and taken Kili away, leaving you alone so you would meet us. Oin and Gloin were aware of that all along."

Thorin swears that if this terrible nightmare ever comes to an end, he will bring Fili along in every single political event he has to attend to and have him plan all the agenda that must be addressed, as well as the best way to approach it. He is tempted to call on a meeting with bloody elves just so he can have his sister-son outsmart the tree-shagging pointed ears.

"I might have." Fili said slowly, watching him with guarded eyes but Kili's proud smile at his brother told Thorin that he had indeed "How did you find out?"

"I followed Gloin by chance and saw Gimli leaving here. That's what blew your cover." Thorin tried really hard to not be amused at the lack of response in both of his sister-sons knowing that their young cousin had ruined whatever plans they had made.

"The planning went just as far as today's meeting, there was no need for him and Kili to stay hidden for a whole day." Fili explained as he moved to throw some coal in the hearth and leaned against the wall.

"And why was today's meeting so important to you?" Thorin thought he deserved an explanation. He had just been outsmarted by his own heir.

"Kili wanted either you or mother to tell him the truth about Frerin, since I had no means of discovering his true motivations by just reading the historical documents. I just needed to confirm if my suspicions were right. Turned out they were."

Thorin watched them. Leaning against the stony wall, Fili really looked like he didn't care to know the truth about his father. Kili, however, was sitting on the bed and staring at him eagerly.

"Is Frerin my brother's father?" Kili asked, impatiently trying to make him talk.

"Yes." Thorin answered slowly. He had been planning to talk about it with Fili, but Kili was too unpredictable and most likely would not like to hear some parts of the story.

"Then why are you all so scandalized that Fili and I love each other?!"

"Because your mother loved him only like a brother, and he did not respect that. He lusted over her and one day he got so drunk until he could not hold himself anymore." Thorin forced himself to say it all at once, trying to keep his voice even. He watched Kili's eyes widening.

"He took mother by force." Fili finished for him, looking to the ground as his voice sounded distant.

"Did you know that already?!" Kili turned to him with clear surprise on his eyes.

"I figured there was a reason for mother and everybody else blaming _me_ for corrupting you. She thinks I am doing to you the same thing he did to her."

Thorin took his time to watch his sister-son. Fili had shrugged as he had spoken, but for once his emotions were leaking out of his controlled mask. The prince was sad, bitter that his own mother thought such things of him. His stance was constrained as he breathed.

Kili saw it too, immediately going to him and putting his hands on his shoulder.

"You never forced yourself on me." The gentle tone was something Thorin had never heard in his younger nephew's voice, and he figured this must be something reserved just for Fili. He briefly wondered how many more sides of his nephews no one had ever seen, how much more they kept behind the Fortress, heavily guarded by the Archer's arrows.

"I know." Fili replied, but kept his eyes on the ground, now frowning "She hates me, though."

"Fili, your mother does _not_ hate you." Thorin spoke all of a sudden, unable to hear the hurt in the boy's voice.

Despite all his mighty resolution to defend his brother, Fili was not invincible and Thorin blamed himself for forgetting this during these last few months confrontations. The blonde had to be suffering with all of this. Perhaps he might not care that his father was not the same as Kili's, but he certainly cared that Dis might hate not because of their relationship but because of what his father had done.

"Doesn't she?" Fili looked up at last and his blue eyes were cold as ice, his voice sharp "Be honest with me, uncle, now that we are getting rid of the secrets in this family. When she learned she was with child, did she try to abort me? Don't lie. You know I'll be able to tell if you do."

Thorin sighed, closing his eyes in defeat. Of course he would ask that. Fili was too clever. He was observant and knew his mother too well, enough to deduce what she would have done in any situation. However, this is the one thing he would have liked to keep a secret, because he doubted they would ever understand how deeply hurt Dis was by that betrayal.

But then, he could not lie anymore, could he?

"Your mother was ill… she was out of her mind… Yet, yes, she would have tried to abort you if Oin had not stopped her." He answered, feeling the weight of those words sinking in them.

The younger was the first to react, as he had expected.

"WHAT?!" the anger in Kili's voice was one of the things he had feared. Fili seemed to be hurt but at least at peace with things, having already deduced it. The brunette, though, would never forgive anyone who had tried to hurt his brother. If Thorin did not handle this with caution, that story could end up ripping their family apart.

"Kili—"

"How _dared_ she?!" Kili was glowing with rage "The child in her womb had no fault! How could she be so cruel?!"

"Kili, you mother was—"

"SHE ALMOST ROBBED ME OF MY BROTHER!" Kili yelled, ignoring his attempts to say anything "She would have taken my heart before I was even born! My home, my mate, my—"

"Kili, STOP!"

It was not Thorin's command that stopped him, though. It was Fili, of course, the only one who could ever reach Kili in his rage. He gripped his wrist and turned him around, looking into his eyes.

"I am alive, brother." Fili whispered.

"You almost weren't." Kili whispered back, his body trembling with fury.

"But I am, and we are together. Don't talk of an almost that we don't have to deal with." Slowly, Fili pulled Kili closer by the wrist until their faces were nearly touching "This is real, focus on _this_. I am alive, and no one will take me from you."

As Kili nodded and rested their foreheads together, Thorin was unable to keep watching, his eyes searching the floor for something else to look at. This was nothing like their heated kisses and indecent stares, yet it was much more private. He heard the friction of their clothes as their arms held each other, heard some whispers he could not understand but hinted of affection and deep emotion.

Wrong though it was, it made him happy that his sister-sons had found something he hadn't. Indeed, this was nothing like Frerin's twisted obsession. This was about two brothers that had been lucky enough to find all kinds of love in each other.

"Have you decided what to do with us, yet, uncle?"

Fili's voice, now lacking the previous hurt, indicated that their little moment had recharged their energies, had readied them for whatever was to come. He had become the Fortress again, standing tall and strong to protect his beloved.

"No." Thorin answered, looking at them again "I gave this decision to Dis."

"Why would you do that?" Kili asked. His voice hinted of anger and fear, and he gripped Fili's arm protectively, as if Dis was about to try and kill his brother again.

"Because she has had too much pain in her life. I would not force my decision upon her on this matter." Thorin answered, sighing before sitting on the spare chair "So, since you have been asking for the truth, you two might as well listen the whole story before you judge your mother."

Fili seemed slightly surprised by this, saying nothing and only nodded. Kili was still suspicious, but as usual, trusted his brother's judgment of the situation.

"Go on, then. Explain to me why my mother is not a monster." The younger said bitterly, his eyes guarded. He pulled his brother to sit on the bed with him.

Thorin did not miss the brief moment in which they struggled to see who would sit farther from him, noticing how Fili regained completely his protective behavior, staying between him and Kili even though that did nothing to block the brunette's glare at him. He had the sensation that nothing he could say would be enough to make Kili forgive Dis for even thinking about killing Fili while he was still in her womb, but he tried anyway.

"Your mother's beloved was a dwarf called Tarin. He served as the captain of the royal guard and was a good friend of Frerin. Dis gave him her heart when she was very young, but she knew he did not love her back, because he was married to another." Thorin began, once again questioning why his sister would deserve all that had happened to her "Long after losing Erebor and after the Azanulbizar, Tarin's wife perished from sickness on the road. Dis thought then that he might finally correspond her feelings. During the celebrations of Durin's Day, she took him to an empty room to confess her love for him. Frerin had been spying on her, and before Tarin could even say something back, my brother went in and killed him then and there, in front of Dis."

Both brothers now looked surprised, yet Thorin saw the possessive way with which they gripped each other's arms, no doubting imagining what it would be like to see the one they loved being murdered right in front of him. In his heart, he prayed they didn't have to go through it. May Mahal bless his sister with wisdom in this difficult hour.

"Then, in his drunkenness, Frerin raped his own sister. Dis, filled with grief and hatred, killed him before the act was even finished." He forced the words out. Telling that story now made it seem like a tragic tale, but he remembered vividly enough the blood of Frerin and Tarin and Dis on the floor to know it was the truth "Your mother's desperate cries attracted the attention of Oin and Gloin, who were nearby. Gloin pulled her out of there while Oin went after me. She was so enraged and hysterical afterwards, that Oin had to put her under induced sleep for days."

"Mother killed him?" Kili whispered in shock. Dis had never picked up any kind of weapon since that day, so neither of her sons knew about how dangerous she could be with axes and knives.

"The chances of Frerin getting her pregnant were minimum… we never expected her to be with child. Dis nearly went insane when she discovered on the following month. I thought we would lose her to her madness. Once again, Oin and Gloin were the ones who were close when she started screaming in her despair, and they stopped her from aborting the child."

Now that he was talking about it, it suddenly seemed was natural that there was a bond between Fili and Oin and Gloin. They had saved his life before he was even born. As a child, Fili must have sensed that at the same time that the sons of Groin must have felt responsible for him. Perhaps it was not all that surprising that they had helped him to cover their relationship and to participate in that afternoon's charade.

"Then you had to hide everything. People could not know about the monster that prince Frerin was, so you altered the historical documents. He died bravely in the battle for Moria."

Thorin looked half-surprised at his elder sister-son, who was now back to the usual calm state. This only meant that on the inside Fili must be under a great turmoil, he reserved that kind of calmness for the toughest situations, his cold blood reining his actions until he felt safe again – or until he was sure that Kili was out of danger. He feared for what their mother might do, now that he knew how close she must be to despair.

It stung that this whole situation had left them all in such state that Fili and Kili felt the need to protect each other from their own family. Thorin realized for the first time how terrifying he must have been, threatening to bring them apart. How horrible it must be to love someone and to have a whole family ordering to forsake a bond that is supposedly unbreakable. This brought a sudden appreciation for their strength and courage of standing up to him.

"Yes. Some months later, after Dis was once again on her right mind, Tarin's brother, Darin, stepped up and proposed marriage to her. It turned out that he had fallen for Dis long ago, but had never spoken of his feelings because he knew about her heart's desire. We needed an official father to Frerin's child fast and we needed someone that loved Dis enough to go through everything with her, someone who would not mistreat the child, so we all accepted him in our midst. Thus, Darin became Fili's father and gave Dis another son five years later."

"Until an orc's blade claimed him ten years later while he protected his son." This time Kili was the one who finished for him, his eyes showing how much more he appreciated his father for what he had done both in life and death.

Fili too had affection in his eyes. Darin had died protecting Fili from an orc raid to their camp. It really did not matter to him who had spawned him, Darin was the father he had met. Furthermore, Darin was the dwarf that had given him Kili, and for that alone Thorin believed Fili would be forever grateful to him.

Indeed, he had been great. He had accepted and cared for Fili as if he had been from his own blood, even if the blonde hair was a bitter reminder of who had fathered him. Darin had even aided Dis with her bitter memories, making her see that she loved her elder son despite of everything. By the time Fili was three years old, they were a happy family. Most likely, if Darin had lived until today, Fili would not have suspected so much about his origins.

Thorin had mourned greatly the loss of his brother-in-law, who had filled the dark gap that Frerin had left in their family. Dis had mourned him too, but after everything, her heart had become as hard as iron, and she learned how to not show her emotions, making her sons believe that she did not love Darin. It was not the burning love dwarves felt for those they gave their hearts to, but it was love, nonetheless, the warm kind that healed wounds. No one who knew about the tragic story ever doubted how deeply Dis felt for her husband.

"Your mother does not hate you, Fili. She, _we_, I guess, have problems in understanding this relationship of yours, because it reminds us of this dark past."

"You should have told us." Kili said then, accusation clear and sharp in his voice as if he had just struck an arrow. Thorin sighed exasperate and wondered how on Middle-Earth his nephew still had energy left to argue.

"Would it have changed anything between you?" he asked, looking pointedly from one to the other. Fili was still calm, meaning that he did not believe they were out of danger yet.

"No, I would have loved Fili the same, but we might have been… gentler, about things." Kili answered with determination.

"Hidden better, perhaps." Fili added, casting Thorin an analytical glance.

Thorin stared skeptically at them, but a look at blue and brown eyes told him that they could have kept it a complete secret if they really wanted. There was nothing they wouldn't do for each other. Those boys shared that kind of complete and uncontrollable love, with that burning flame that sealed dwarves' bonded hearts. And they were _brilliant_. Both of them, each on his own way. They really could do everything they wished. The Archer and The Fortress, undefeated so far.

Perhaps, in the end Fili and Kili had wanted them to find out. Or at least, they had felt safe enough among their family that they didn't bother to be so guarded around them, letting some things slip through their carefully constructed castle.

"So now we wait for mother's decision." Kili said after a few minutes of silence.

"We should prepare our packs. We can travel light to the village in the valley, get more supplies there." Fili turned to his brother all of a sudden, his dominant nature arising as he pondered with practicality over the next steps to be taken "Those swords we forged last week, we should be able to trade them for ponies. Bombur had promised me a pack of food in case we needed to go quickly and Bofur gave me some names of dwarves he knows in the north, they might have jobs for us."

"Right." Kili nodded "I spoke to Ori this morning, he delivered the map you had asked for. There is a trail that leaves from an old mining route, it seems quicker than the mountain path down."

"Good, we'll take that one. Strength your bowstring, I'll sharpen your sword tonight. We should be ready to leave around tomorrow night."

At first, Thorin allowed himself to admire them. Fili must have planned everything weeks ago. And even though they have just been given a burden to bear with that dark truth, Fili had the strength and coolness to put aside the fact that he was the fruit of a tragedy and go on doing whatever was necessary so he could be with the one he loved.

As for Bombur, Bofur and Ori aiding… There were at least three dwarves that probably knew about their incestuous relationship. At least three dwarves that _did not care_. They had seen past the moral dilemma and understood that this was something that no law or common sense could stop. Even more than that, these dwarves loved the boys enough to help them runaway. This alone spoke of the kind of loyalty that only true leaders could inspire, for no doubt those dwarves knew they were helping the brothers against the will of their king.

Perhaps, for those who were not under the constant pressure of crown and kingdom, it was easier to accept that some people love who they should not. But there had been Oin, Gloin and Gimli, so royal blood was not an excuse, Thorin knew. Either way, it was impressive.

Looking deep into Kili's brown eyes, it was possible to see he had not forgotten of his anger, but as it usually happened, he had let go in favor of Fili. He paid close attention to everything his brother was saying, adding something when necessary, trusting entirely in his brother's choices. And yet, at the same time one of his sharp eyes would occasionally travel to Thorin, as if it was a warning that his presence in the room had not been forgotten.

Briefly, when Fili stood to check something in his pack while still talking about what they should do after they reached the village, Kili looked straight at Thorin. There was a threat there, clear as daylight. He wouldn't let anyone lay a single hand on his brother.

"Why are you so certain of leaving? Your mother might decide do nothing about it."

They both turned to him then, Kili skeptical and Fili calculating.

"Is that what you believe?" the older one asked. When Thorin gave no answer, Fili raised his blond eyebrows at him "We must be prepared for anything. I believe this is one of the first things you taught us, uncle."

It was true, so Thorin sighed, standing to leave. But before he could go, Kili asked.

"Are you on our side, though?"

That was the big question, was it not? He probably was, otherwise he would have already taken the drastic measures Dis wanted him to. But again, he offered no answer. Fili could do the math, and he did.

"Thank you, uncle." Fili said, bowing his head slightly, still not completely trusting but letting his guard down for once.

"My king." It was those two words from Kili that made Thorin's throat get tight with emotion. His nephew's voice might have been cold and suspicious, but this was Kili acknowledging his authority, showing he _trusted_ Thorin to lead – this was something that the younger had only ever given to Fili.

Despite all that noble speech of the people coming before family, a king needed the respect of his kin if he hoped to even believe to be a good leader. The family was the foundation of any kingdom. And after losing a father, a grandfather and a brother, Thorin really didn't want to lose anyone else. He would keep them all if he could.

He had given Dis the power of decision and he would stand by that. However, if something should happen to him, he knew two young dwarves who would have the power to lead on, and he knew his cousins would understand that.

Turning to leave, he took a big breath. Changing sides in battle was not honorable in any circumstances, but this was not a war that should have started in the first place.

"Fili." He stopped at the doorway, without turning to look at them. It was time to acknowledge his defeat, at last "You will remain my heir no matter what your mother decides."

Thorin did not look behind to see the victorious grins on his nephew's faces. The struggle was not over yet.

**Xxxxxxxxxx**

**I didn't quite like how this turned out. Too much drama, I think.**

**Thank you for reading, though!**

**And as you can see, there will be a fourth chapter :)**


	4. A Note

**This is a note to explain a few things.**

**I'm sorry for how long it's been since the last chapter. A few months ago my computer broke (someone spilled water in it!) and I lost all of my files that were not saved anywhere else. Unfortunately, the last chapter was among these.**

**As I both lost the computer and many stories, I ended up not writing for a long time. It was just so frustrating! Combined with the beginning of a new phase in the academic life, I barely had the time to re-write things.**

**So, I promise that the Fourth Chapter will come. I don't know when, because re-writing 4000 words in the exact same way is not easy. I have to get the feeling of this story back. I already started to work on it, but it's coming slow. Right now, writing new stuff is easier then trying to remember all the details of the stories that I lost.**

**Don't lose hope in me, though. I'll do my best to bring something good for you to read. (And I promise to save multiple copies in different places of all my files T.T)**

**Thanks a lot for all the reviews! I never thought I would get such a positive feedback!**

** , June/2013**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE ;D**

**We are back on business! Fourth chapter is up!**

** , June 26/2013**


	5. An alliance to show

**Okay… *blushing* First of all, I am sorry if this is not all that you've been expecting. This fourth chapter turned out to be very different from what I had written originally. I ended up deciding to write another chapter after this one, for an example. Sorry it will take a while longer to finish the story.**

**I just couldn't resist trying to write a darker Kili so this is what you've got. I expect next chapter is more focused on Dis than this ended up being.**

**Thanks a lot for all the comprehensive reviews and PMs and for the warm welcome back from some of you. I was very happy to hear that I've been missed **

**Please enjoy!**

**xxxxxxxx**

Chapter 4 – An alliance to show

In general, Thorin does not count on luck. It's not that he is pessimist, but pure optimism and wishful thinking do not win battles. Fili, in his calculating mind, knew that for sure and Thorin would be a fool not to take the same approach to this. If one knows one self and if one knows the enemy, then victory is almost certain.

Of course, they were a family and that meant all of them knew each other pretty well. And while Thorin likes to think that no one else knows his kin as well as he does, it's obvious that there are huge gaps in his knowledge, otherwise Fili and Kili would not have been able to hide their relationship for that long.

When talking to his most trusted advisors, their opinion differs about the outcome of the ordeal.

Dwalin was a full warrior. Brave and wild, his victories came from both instinct and experience – in a way, a lot like Kili. Dwalin thought that everything would be fine. Between the swings of his two axes in the training grounds, his cousin had absolute certainty that Dis would come around the situation. "In the end, she loves them both. Ye know she does. She has to recover from her own pain, that's all." He had said and Thorin's more romantic side agreed with him. He could not picture his sister wishing ill to her own children.

Balin was just as good as his brother in the battlefield, but he was a true pessimist. He tended to always expect the worst and that drives him to be always prepared for various situations, which is why he is such a good advisor. Balin believed that Dis would not go so far as want their deaths, but she might not be able to deal with being around them. "Hard as it is, laddie, we should be ready to not see Fili and Kili for a while. Or perhaps, Dis. Even in her pain, she knows how much we need the heirs to learn from us now, so maybe it will be her choice to leave us for some time. We could write to Dain. I'm sure he will not deny her a place in his household."

Thorin hated the idea of seeing his family scattered through the wind once again, but he knows that his cousin may be right. And while he hopes that his sister will be reasonable, he never forgets about the weaknesses that run in their family, so he starts to decide what to write to Dain just in case.

Oin and Gloin – after asking forgiveness for staying by Fili's side – somewhat seem to give the wisest council on the matter, for Thorin's surprise. They are, perhaps, less experienced in the matters of the Estate, but they are also very practical dwarves. And they were the ones who knew what was happening between Fili and Kili right from the beginning. Therefore, when they tell him to not interfere, it makes sense. "If you are preparing Fili to be King, you have to let him win this on his own." Oin said as he adjusted his earpiece "As our family has learned the hardest way possible, a king must learn how to keep the things he loves and deal with everything else at the same time."

Gloin, always the one who did not care for authority, spoke out his overly sincere words as he made his hammer work in the forge. "This is the boys' lives, this is the boys' fight. Although, to be honest, this is more Dis' fight than theirs. No one who knows about them is horribly disgusted and even you have no problem with it anymore. But relies on them to make her understand."

"So, you my cousin, would have me simply watch as my family falls apart?" Thorin is not sure why Gloin is the only one who gets a response out of him. Perhaps its because Gloin is the one who sounds the most concerned, despite his words.

"I would see a King trust on his heirs and I would see an Uncle trust on his sister-sons." Gloin's words suddenly seemed louder than his hammer "Fili has made everything work the he wanted so far. What makes you think that he will fail now? The boy has more brains in him than all of us together, I'd wager. Besides, it would be very naïve of you, Thorin Oakenshield, to think that Kili would ever let something bad to happen to his brother. Let them deal with this and you most likely will see them prevail."

There is no one else in their family – or even kingdom – that has the guts to talk to Thorin like Gloin does. Being the youngest of the seven cousins, Gloin had perhaps been a little spoiled by all of them and grown up to give no importance to their different status. Either way, the red-haired dwarf probably was the one closer to the truth.

XX

Yet even in real battles, the parties involved are not the only things that must be considered. One must also mind the terrain and the weather conditions. And dwarves are so used to live in the heart of mountains, that they sometimes forget how the mountains can take lives.

It had been a week since the horrible meeting and Dis had given him no decision yet. However, Ered Luin did not revolve around their little drama and there were many other things to deal with. His sister not once faltered in her duty, hiding her pain and doubt as she helped him to make their people grow stronger.

They were discussing with Balin and Dwalin about treaty with a human town nearby when suddenly a whirlwind entered the room.

Kili, in all of his glorious fury came barging in.

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!"

All of a sudden he has his mother trapped against the wall and Thorin doesn't like to think what he might have done next if Oin and Gloin had not rushed in after him and held him back.

"NOW ARE YOU SATISFIED THAT YOU FINALLY MANAGED TO KILL YOUR SON?!" Kili's voice is a wild growl as he struggles to get free from Oin and Gloin's grasp.

"KILI!" Thorin yells to make him stop. What on Middle-Earth was his nephew ranting about?!

"Calm down, lad and tell us what happened." Balin's commanding voice follows and when Dwalin joins their younger cousins to hold Kili quiet, Thorin tries again.

"Kili, what are you talking about?" he asks very slowly, because he is afraid of what he sees in his sister-son eyes. There is pain and hurt and _despair_ and he could not be faking that. Something had happened to Fili.

"I'm talking about your sister sending her elder son, your heir, my _mate_, to DEATH!" Kili yells the last part and Dwalin throws him sit in a chair.

"Kili, what—"

"Calm down, lad."

They are all trying to speak at the same time as Kili simply sits there and glare at his mother, his breathing coming in forceful incomes of air. It was obvious that he was using all of his will power to not attack her. He was trying to act like Fili would.

"What happened?" Balin turns to Oin and Gloin, as Thorin is still too trapped in the storm in Kili's face. It was hard to believe that was the same dwarf whom he had helped to raise. Even worse, Kili suddenly reminded him a lot of his Grandfather when he had lost the Arkenstone.

"This last week Fili and Kili were helping us with the mines. Word came from the East Wing that there were orc sounds in one of the tunnels, so we went quickly to investigate. There were ten other dwarves with us, Gimli, Dori and Nori included." Gloin began to say, his face pale with horror and worry "There were no orcs, the sounds the miners had reported were echoes coming from deep within the mountain. Echoes of moving rock, cousin…"

"When we were coming back, the Blue Mountains roared beneath and above us." Oin took over, since his brother could not continue, "There was a rockslide and our little company had to run to take whatever cover we could. Fili, Gimli, Dori and Nori got trapped inside the tunnel along with other three dwarves. We immediately called others to help us take them out of there… And that's when one of the older miners informed us that he had said a while ago that the tunnel was weak. He told us that he had informed the royal office last month and that Lady Dis had dismissed him saying she would take measures… but nothing was done to seal the tunnel…"

An awful silence fell upon them as the information sank in.

Fili, his heir, his sister-son, was trapped in an unstable tunnel. A tunnel which should have been sealed long ago. And Dis knew about it.

_Oh, Kili…_

Slowly, every one turned their eyes to the young Prince. Kili was murder in person. There was this darkness surrounding him that made them all feel apprehensive.

"So, tell me, _Lady Dis_, are you relieved that your child is finally dead?" Kili growled in a whisper before he stood all of a sudden "Are you happy NOW?! NOW THAT I AM ALONE AND POOR KILI WILL NOT BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE BIG BAD BLONDE WOLF?! You've been trying to do this for years, right?!"

"Kili, this was not her—"

"DON'T TELL ME IT'S NOT HER FAULT!" Kili roared before Balin could finish the sentence and they all stepped back before him "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THIS! Fili and I have been worried sick about what would become of us, about what we should do or not, but we haven't for a single moment stopped doing our duty! We could have ran away the second you all found out but we didn't! We didn't because this is supposed to be the House of Durin and the House of Durin does not abandon its people! Isn't that what you have been teaching us all this time you bunch of hypocrite dwarves?!"

In that moment, Kili seemed to be even taller than Dwalin, shadowing all of them in his mighty fury. This is a situation Thorin never thought he would see. Kili without Fili. Kili without the only person who could tame him and hold back his destructive potential.

"How shameful of all of you who doubted us! You have taught us everything we know and still you thought of us as if we were selfish children who care nothing for honor and duty!" Kili's eyes were dark and grave as he regarded them with anger and judgment "You looked at your Crown Prince and decided to judge him because of who his father was. Well, Mahal forbid us to start judging each other based on our fathers' deeds unless we really are so decadent as to fall to gold lust, mental illness and attempt to child abortion."

Kili's voice was as cold as Fili's, and Thorin knew this was an attempt to keep things civilized. Suddenly he felt very appreciative of the fact that they indeed were bonded and that the older brother's nerves of steel were still having some influence over the brunette even with the very real possibility of Fili being dead. However, it did not diminish the sharpness of those words and it did nothing to attenuate the deep cut they caused. They were all afraid enough of following the same path as Thror and Thrain without being reminded about it.

"I will go and assemble dwarves to open the tunnel, or at least dig around the rocks to open a way out. I will not stop until I see him again." Kili said then, looking in the eye of every one of them except Oin and Gloin, stopping at Dis "But if I cannot take my brother out of there alive, if Fili… if Fili is _dead_… I _swear_… The first heir is not the only thing that this family and kingdom will have lost. For all of you who wanted so much to see me by myself, here I am and I _promise_ that you may yet regret it. The beast is loose and the only one who could hold it back is trapped in a crumbling tunnel."

Gloin left immediately after Kili, because he too was worried about someone he loved, so Thorin didn't judge him for giving a nasty look of his own to Dis before going out.

Oin went right after them, clearly worried about his own nephew and Fili as well. Not to mention that he was bound to work all day and night, both taking care of those they managed to rescue and giving immediate aid to those who got wounded in the process. Opening tunnels in the unstable rock was a dangerous business.

Then, slowly, after recovering from the avalanche that Kili had brought over them, Dwalin went as well, followed by Balin. Two members from their family were trapped in the tunnel and three others would endanger their lives in the rescue, so Thorin knew it would be useless to argue with them that it was not wise for the entire family to go deep into the mountain when there were rockslides bound to happen anytime. After all, he too wanted to run to the aid of his kin.

Kili's words had struck deep into them all _and the House of Durin does not abandon its people_. Thorin is sure that this single sentence will hunt them down for their entire lives.

Taking a deep breath, Thorin finally looks at Dis. He does not find in himself to blame his sister, not after everything she had been through. Which does not made things easier to deal with.

If Dis had been looking weak and distance for the last weeks, now she might as well be a ghost. Thorin approached her slowly, cautious of whatever might come from her.

"Sister—"

"I had no intention!" she interrupts him still looking at the chair where Kili had been sitting "I swear, brother… I… It escaped from my mind, completely. I don't know… I _know_ how important it is to seal weak tunnels, I have no idea what happened! I—"

"Dis. This is not your fault. I know. We all know."

"Kili doesn't." she finally turns to him, pale and frightened and guilty "And he will hate me forever, now. Along with everyone else in our family."

"Nonsense. Kili is afraid, he is scared that he might have lost his mate. The others know what you are going through."

"But this is not an excuse, is it? As my son so kindly pointed out to us." Her eyes were wide and terrified "Perhaps indeed I am the one to blame for everything. From my children's twistedness to Fili's death."

"Sister, they are not twisted!"

"They are and it is my fault!"

"_Stop this!_" Thorin had not intended to lose his temper, but one of his sister-sons in trapped in a tunnel while the other was going to risk his life to try to rescue him and he doesn't find it in himself to pity Dis' insane worries "Your sons are in real danger and you have no right to stay here dwelling on whose fault this is. Fili and Kili are what they are and their relationship has nothing to do with your past, something they didn't even know about until last week."

This, at least, makes Dis stop and look at him.

"Gloin too might have lost his child and do you know what he is doing? He is following the son you say is twisted because he trusts Kili. He trusts that Kili will do everything he can to get Fili and the others out of there. What does that tell you? Do you think twisted and wrong souls inspire that kind of confidence?" Thorin wonders if he will regret his next words, but he says them anyway because he must "And do you know what else? If Darin was here, he would be already there, worried sick about Fili. And he would have been the first one to congratulate them both on finding a kind of love that almost no one does. So you get yourself together and try to act like the mother you used to be before their love reminded you of your past."

He doesn't stay to see what her reaction will be. Thorin has thousands of worries right now, but he chooses to attend to the ones from the present. It was long past that family started to live in the present without dwelling in the misfortunes of their past.

xx

One of the most amazing things about their race was that even the proudest dwarf had no problems in doing the heavy work. When it came to important situations, every single warrior would gladly trade his sword for a pick and a shovel if it meant that a friend would be saved.

Kili would hear nothing of staying back, of course. He called on to people and put everyone to work, all the while leading everything, making a point of going before everyone else. It was far from the methodical, organized and efficient approach that Fili would have taken if the places were reversed, nonetheless every single dwarf took strength from his attitude and that kept them digging without pause.

Even shy Ori, who usually favored his books picked up a shovel and went into the tunnel, digging to rescue his older siblings. He trailed Kili's every step, trying to help even when his untrained arms didn't allow him more physical work. The young scribe had in his head all the known routes of the mountain and provided useful council about where to turn next and which spots to avoid.

And Ori was just one example among many. Many others were doing whatever they could. Not only other dwarves had family trapped in there, but also their people _loved_ Fili and Kili.

As he worked alongside his cousins and friends, Thorin was hit with the sudden realization that his nephews were the true jewel of his broken kingdom. The two princes were what most made their people feel connected to the House of Durin. They brought them _hope_. They were a symbol.

After a people has lost its home, it cannot bear to lose their princes as well.

Thorin was still the great leader, the one their people trusted to bring them better times. Yet, those better times would be inherited by future king Fili and because of that it truly belonged to the boys. They were the leaders of the future and their people could not lose that. Gimli, Ori and all the other younger dwarves might bow to Thorin, but they _followed_ Fili and Kili – and in the middle of all that, he felt more sure than ever that none of them would ever have anything to say against their relationship if it ever came to public, which was a very real possibility judging by the haunted look in Kili's face. Counciously or not, their people understood that what made Fili and Kili the way they were was the fact that one was always with the other.

It must always be Fili _and_ Kili. Fortresses and Archers stood stronger when they were together. In fact, seeing how everyone seems to easily accept Kili's obsessive behavior towards saving his brother and not caring for anything else, Thorin has a small suspicion that perhaps people would be dissatisfied if something or _someone_ should come between them. Fleetingly he tries to imagine Fili with a queen by his side and either he is going completely crazy or the image seems to be completely wrong. Only Kili fitted there and Thorin guessed that everyone but them had already understood that ages ago.

So, for two days, the Blue Mountains remained tense with expectation. Those who were not involved in the digging were giving whatever other kind of help they could. Thorin felt like crying only three times in his life: when Smaug took their home, when his father fell and when he saw the birth of the first dwarfling to be borne in the exile. Of course, he hadn't cried because he couldn't show his tears to his people, but he kept the memory of his burning throat anyway so he would never forget. Then, when Thorin saw Ori coming running out of the new tunnel with relief written all over his face a fourth occasion was added to his small list.

Gimli was the first to be retrieved. Thorin saw Gloin and Dwalin carry him out of the tunnel, his face pale and a leg broken. Then there was Dori, helping another young dwarf walk of there until they were received by Ori and a few others.

One by one they were rescued.

After Nori was finally taken out with nothing but a few scratches, only Fili remained. For a few minutes the whole of Ered Luin waited in an anxious silence. The moment in which Kili came out carrying his brother's body was the worst and Thorin felt his blood freeze for a second before he saw the blond head move.

When Fili looked up, the dwarves roared and cheered as if they were one.

Thorin had been too far back, checking out how Gimli was when it happened, but even from a distance he saw two very important things. He saw how the two brothers tried to hold on to each as if their lives depended on it at the same time they tried to act cool and collected as it was expected from them. They probably wanted nothing more than to launch themselves into each other's arms, but he was sure that such a thing had already happened in the tunnel before they came and had to appear before their people.

He also saw the way with which Dis stood apart from everyone else. If things had happened months before she would have already hugged her sons fiercely, but now… Thorin sighed as he watched her. Guilt tormented her face along with something that resembled fear a lot. Could she be afraid to go to them? Kili had been terrifying.

Inside his heart the darker possibility that she still might have problems with accepting them loomed above the happiness of seeing his nephew alive.

All the while the dwarves celebrated and laughed and talked about throwing a feast because everyone had survived. Thorin prayed that the situation remained like this, with no deaths, for who knew what was going through Dis' heart?

Either way, he supposed that he should do his bit. If you are someone's ally, you must show your true colors, especially in times of crisis. It was the honorable and right thing to do. He was an uncle before he was a king, so Thorin crossed the distance between him and his sister-sons.

In front of everyone and especially in front of his sister, he pulled both Fili and Kili to the hug that their mother should have given them weeks ago and kept them there.

"You two stupid boys! Don't do this ever again, do you hear me? This family is already short enough as it is without you two risking your lives like this." He scolded them in the middle of the hug because he was still Thorin Oakenshield and he could not cry, but when he heard them chuckling weakly and returning the embrace fiercely he ended up smiling as well. This he could do.

May Mahal give his sister wisdom, for neither Thorin nor Ered Luin could have the luxury of seeing Fili and Kili go.

**xxxxxxxxx**

**I thought about writing the ending in this same chapter, but I think Dis and them deserve more attention, so I will leave this to Chapter 5 when – hopefully – we'll get to the end of the story.**

**I'm afraid the 'battle style' of the original story got a little lost in this chapter, but this might be because there was a long interval between the first three chapters and this one. Or maybe because Thorin no longer sees the situation like something he must fight them against.**

**Thank you for reading!**


End file.
